Watch Upkeep

Watch Snob: What It Really Takes To Maintain A Fine Watch

A fine watch, like an automobile, is designed to run, not sit flat on a bedside table or in a safe for days on end.

Proper Watch Upkeep

Dear Snob,

Recently as part of a matrimonial gift, I got my first watch worthy of good care (Patek 5127G). I've only read idle speculations on how to keep an automatic watch in shape, from using a watch winder to winding using the crown. But these were from the watch-forum trolling types or my less-enlightened acquaintances and not from actual watchmakers.

Never trust the forum trolls. They rarely have your best interest in mind. The first question I ask you is: If this is your first fine timepiece, why would you be taking it off long enough to need to wind it again? If it lives on your wrist, and with a Patek it should, you will never need to do a thing to it other than advance the date a few times and correct the time twice a year.

But let’s assume your work requires that you remove your watch for several days on end — maybe you're an oil rig roughneck or commercial diver. If this is the case, I recommend a watch winder, merely to save the trouble of having to set the time and date repeatedly after it stops. A fine watch, like an automobile, is designed to run, not sit flat on a nightstand or in a safe for days on end. So invest in a decent watch winder, not one of those advertised in the back of those seedy men’s magazines, and store your Patek on it while you’re off doing whatever it is you do without wearing a watch. Better yet, wear your watch every day.

Graduation Present

I am completing my nearly 15 years of training and entering the workplace. To this end, I am getting my first true timepiece. I have narrowed my choices to a JLC Master Chronograph and the Breitling Transocean Chronograph. Any thoughts comparing the two would be appreciated. Any others that you would recommend in that price point/aesthetic?

Fifteen years of training? Either you are a very poor student or you’re a brain surgeon. And now that you’re 35 years old, it’s about time you get a proper timepiece. The short answer to your question is, get the Jaeger-LeCoultre. It’s really not a fair contest. Pit a JLC against just about any other chronograph, except maybe a Lange Datograph, and it will win every time. The lads in Le Sentier simply know what they’re doing and have done it for a very long time. If it weren’t for a few ill-conceived sports watches, Jaeger-LeCoultre would be virtually above reproach.

The Breitling is an impressive timepiece from a brand that seemed almost synonymous with Valjoux 7750 for the past 20 years, despite its early heritage as a chronograph pioneer. I applaud the company for conceiving a new chronograph calibre from the ground up, which is no small feat. However, the Transocean, for all its mechanical prowess and quite attractive aesthetics, suffers from a positively American body mass index. It is 43 millimetres across and almost 15 millimetres thick. Consider that the Jaeger is a near-perfect 40mm and barely 10mm thick. It’s really no contest. If Breitling wants to play with the big boys, it’s going to have to slim down a bit.

Now, the Transocean 38 — which, as its name implies, is 38 millimetres in diameter — Breitling calls a women’s watch. I’d recommend this one as an alternative given its more sane size. However, Breitling figured women (and confident men) could make do with Valjoux-derived movements instead of the in-house calibre. What a pity. Get the Jaeger.